SpaceX Launches First Espresso Machine to the Space Station

This is the sixth resupply mission carried out by Elon Musk's private space exploration company, SpaceX, to ferry supplies to the International Space Station. Six astronauts, including yearlong residents Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko, wait there for their 4,300 pounds of equipment.

But the point of this mission isn't a morale boost and a good cup of coffee.

Upon Falcon 9's return to the surface, instead of crashing down, it was supposed to softly land on a floating autonomous drone landing platform, piloted 200 miles off the Florida coast. By landing back down on Earth, it can be reused, saving SpaceX and NASA millions of dollars and potentially giving space travel a much more feasible future.

This was only the second attempt of this sort of return trip, and unfortunately it did not fare too well either. Though the launch went off without a hitch, the attempted landing was not successful.

This time, the sky is blue and the perfect environment to send a massive rocket careening out of the atmosphere. And with it, the first espresso machine ever launches into space.